Motor vehicle lamp



Jan. 31 1933. w. BIRTWISLE MOTOR VEHICLE LAMP Filed Oct. 31. 1929 4Sheets-Sheet 1 .35 His {Whammy- Jan. 31, 1933. w. BIRTWISLE 1,895,748

MOTOR VEHI CLE LAMP Filed Oct. 31, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Znven/or- By Hi5 #1701722 Jan. 31, 1933. w. BI RTWISLE 1,395,743

I MOTOR VEHICLE LAMP Filed Oct. 31, 1929 4-,She'ets-Sheet 3 fnren/azw-By His {flax-my- Jan. 31, 1933. w. BIRTWISLE 1,895,743

MOTOR VEHICLE LAMP Filed Oct. 51. 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Izvcnfor.

,3 His flffornef I Patented Jan. 31, 1933 uNrrao STATES WILLIAMBIRTWISLE', OF 'HARTFORD, NORTHWIGH, ENGLAND,

Moron VEHICLE LAMP PATENT OFFICE"? Applicationfiled October 31,-1929,?eaa 1,m; 403,838, and in Great Britain n vember 6,:1923, 1

The present invention relates to motor vehicle and other lamps and morespecifically tohead lamps for vehicles ofthat classknown as dipping headlamps by the use of which the '5 driver of a vehicle is enabled todeflect the dazzle:

beam of light from the'headlamps of his vehicle downwardly in order tolessen the incon venience to drivers of vehicles travelling. in theopposite direction caused by glare and Such downward deflection ofthebeam is not infrequently accompanied by a sideways deflection of thebeam and both deflections are usually effected by appropriate u movementof the reflector of the head lamp or" of the head lamp itself.

In head lamps for motor vehicles of the kind heretofore proposed it ispossible to deflec t the beam of light in one direction only usually tothe left andwhilethis may be quite zo'satisfactory when the vehicle istravelling along a straight road on a clear night it does" not affordsuflicien't illumination when the vehicle is being driven along a.wlnding road or round sharp corners or for driving in 2 foggy weather.

downwardly to either side of the central ver- I'desired li ht-raydirection to one side or the b The chief object of the present inventiontherefore is to provide a motor vehicle or other lamp such that the beamof light there- -from may be deflected at will sideways and tical plane.of the lamp a v W'ith this'obj ect in view the present inventionconsists in a light projector which is mounted to have angular movementabout an axis on which is situate a bearingpoint, whilst being bodilydisplaceable at another bearing point. The composition of the twomovements gives in a very snnple manner the other with dipping of-thelight ray, the latter being thus thrown downwardly and to the left, ordownwardly and to the right. In order that the invention may be clear-;5 ly understood and readily carried into effect A and in which 2--reference maynow be had to the. accompanyingv drawings illustratingvarious embodiments of the invention by way of example Figure 1 is acentral sectional view of one formllof lamp according to the presenttion on the line 11of Figure 2; I V Figure 2 is a sectional view on theline 22 of Figure 1; t 1 1 1 Figure 3 is arear elevational view of a re;flector for a lamp according to a modification f the present invention;

Figure iis a sectional View on the line of-thereflector shown in'Figure3;

fFigure 5 is a rear elevational view of a modified form of reflector fora lamp ac-; cording to the present invention;

Figures 6 and 7 are sectional views of the reflector shown in Figure 5on the'linesti?6 and 7'-7 respectively; Y 1' Figure 8 is a rearelevational view ofan other modified form of lamp according to thepresent invention; I V Figures 9 and 10 are .plan and sectional viewsrespectively of the lamp shown'in Figure 8; and e i V Figure 11 is adetail of a modified control.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the draw tor is pivotally mounted bymeans-of-an aninven v ings which illustrate one simpleform of'theinvention the reference numeral 1 represents nularflange 8 formedintegrallywith or,-

united with the portion 7 upon horizontal pivots 9 within an annularmetal ring 10, which is itself mounted for rotation aboutf a verticalaxisibymeans of pivots ll-associated With the portion 6 of thereflector; b

Upon the rear of the portion 6 of therefiector or upon the lampcasingthere is provid'ed a pair ofcbearing elements or fixed-abut mentsor contacts 12 positioned one oneither side of the central verticalplane through the lamp and for the purpose of operating the lamp asuitable operating device-such as vertical axis. For this purposetheportion V the Bowden wire 13 shownis secured to the ring 10, 14 beinga guide element for the wire.

A spring 15, which isattached at it's endsto 5 the portions 6 and 7 ofthe reflector, is positioned in the aforesaid central vertical plane ofthe lamp and acts to control the movement of the reflector about thehorizontal 'aXis whilst a spring 16 anchored at one end to 10 the guide14 and at its other endto a hook on V the portion 7 of the reflector onthe opposite side of the reflector to the guide 14 serves to V assist inreturning the portion 7 of the reflector to itsinitial position afteroperation- In the normal position the various parts occupy the positionsshown in Figure 2 and assuming "that a' Bo'wden operating wire islusedthe spring 16 is in'this'position under tension and would if the Bowdenwire were released r05 20. tate the ring 10carrying the portion 7 of athe reflector aboutthe vertical pivots 11 and.

owing 'to the flange 8701": the reflector con' tacting with the fixedbearing elements 12- the portion 7 ofthe reflector would be rocked 5about its horizontal pivots to direct the beam downwardly'to the lefthand side'as viewed in Figure 7. Thering 10 is recessed at 10a 7 'sothat on movement thereof it does not conabout the vertical axis and thusto raise or move rearwardly the right hand side of the V ring as viewedin Figure 2 and to depress or niove forwardly the left hand side of saidring. In moving the ring 10 carries with it the portion 7 of thereflector which pivoted thereto but due to thepresence ofthe bear- 9.ing elements 12' rearward. movement of the portio'n 7 of the reflector.is prevented and v V I e ber27 about the pin 26'thereby bringing itsowing'to the contact between the edge of the flange B and the bearingelement 12 on that;

side ofthelamp wherethe ring 10 moves rearwardly the portion 7 ofgthereflector is rocked about its horizontal pivots to deflect the .beamdownwardly. When the pull on the control wire 13 is relaxed the springs15 and 16 jtend'to return the ring 10 and the portion 7 f the reflectorto their normal positions and if further relaxed the various parts aremoved under the influence of the spring 16 to the positions previously.described.

i As will be readily understood by employv 5 ing means such as a more orless rigid wire or rod capableof exerting. a push as well as a pull onthering 10 the spring 16 may be dispensed with.

' In Figures 3 and 4 a modified form of lamp reflector is shown. In thismodification the reflector is again constructed in two parts constitutedby the annular portion or ring 17 and the concave portion 18 is mountedupon the portion 17 in such a manner that 5 it is capable of angularmovement around av 18 of the reflector may be mounted upon a suitablefootstep bearing 19 constructed so' as to permit universal movement ofthe porportion 18 is provided Wit a pin 23 guided in an axial slot 24 onthe portion 17 of the reflector.

"Secured across the backof the portion 17 of the reflector is an element25 carrying a pin 26 upon which islr'otatablyinounted a cam or likemember 27 providedwith forked arms 28 and )29 adaptedto co-operatewith apinor stud 30 projecting from the portion 18 of the refiector,the pin 26and stud 30 being both positioned inthe central verticalplane throughthereflector. An operating elementsuch as the Bowden wire 31 is secured tothe member 27 or an extension there of in such wise that the member 27may be rotated on the pin 26 to cause the arm 29 to engage the stud 30and import rotational movement to the portion 18 of the reflector aboutan axis passing through the pin 23 and the bearing 19. t I 7 On eachside of the slot 24 lugs 32 adapted to contact with the rear edge of theflange 22 of the portion 18 of the reflector depend A from the portion17 of the reflector and the normalposition of the portion l8shown inFigure 4is such that the rear ege of its flange 22 contacts with bothlugs 32 this position being ensured by thespring 33.

Assuming the various parts of the reflector to be in the positionshownin the drawings a pull exerted on the Bowden wire 31 will causeclockwise movement of the memarm 29 into contact with stud 30 andtending to rotate the portion 18 of the reflector about the vertical;axis passing through the slot 24 and the bearing'19 to raise that halfof the portion 18 of-the reflector lying in theright hand side of Figure3 out of the plane of the paper and to depresscorresponding the otherside of the portion 18 of the reflector thereby deflecting the beam oflight to the right. The'portion 18;.of the reflector cannot however moverearwar'clly on account j 3 18 of the reflector the beam of light comingfrom the reflector is deflected simultaneously both sideways anddownwardly. f

The helical spring 34 anchored at one end on the member 27 and at theother end on the element tends always to rotate member 27 anti-clockwiseas viewed in Figure 3 and in consequence where the pull on'the Bowdenwire 31 is released the portion 18 of the reflector assumes a positionsimilar to that just described but on the opposite side of the lamp andadapted to direct a dipped beam of light to the other side of thecentral vertical plane through the reflector. The longitudinal axis ofthe spring 33 anchored at one endon the portion 17: of the reflector andthe other end to the portion 18 of the reflector occupies a position inthe central vertical plane through,

the reflectors and acts to hold the portion 18 of the reflector on thebearing 19.

As in the previous case'by employing a moreor less rigid operating rodor'wire instead of the Bowden wire shown, the spring 34. may bedispensed with and the portion positively operated in both directions.

Referring now to the further modified form of the invention shown inFigures 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings the two portions of the reflector areshown at 35 and 36 respectively the portion 35 being mounted at itslower part upon a footstep or ball type bearing 37 associated with theportion 36 of the reflector whilst the upper part of the portion 1: 35of the reflector is guided with respect to the portion 36 at 38 and 39.'F or the latter purpose the reflector portion is provided at 38 and 39with slots 40 each to accommodate a pin 41 mounted upon the reflectorpor- .tion 36. Across theback of the portion of the reflector is anelement 42- which has rotatably and centrally mounted thereon by meansof the pin 43 a T shaped member 44 one'limb of which is provided witharms 45 and 46 which straddle a'pin orstud 47 on the portion 35 of thereflector. The cross piece of the T-shaped member is connected at oneend with suitable actuating mechanism-in the form of a Bowden wire 48 inthe example shownand at the other end is provided with a pin or stud 49vpositioned between the arms 50 and5l of a tumbler lever 52 pivotallymounted upona stud upon the element 42. The arm 50 is adapted to bear onthe stud 49 at all'times and for this purpose the tumbler lever 52 isbiased by the spring'54 anchored to the portion 36 of the reflector.

Pivotally or hingedly attached to the rear 2 of reflector at appropriatepoints are rods 55 and 56 the free ends of which project through and areguided by members 57 and 58 attached to or forming part of the element35. Helical springs 59 and 60 surround the rods 55 and 56 and tend tomalntain the portion 35 of the reflector on the bearingBT member 43allows a reflector borne pin 41 to.

move either in one slot 40 or the other,.this

bodily displacement of the reflector taking 7 place simultaneously withthe angular movementof such reflectorupon its bearings 37.

If desired a rigid more or less flexible wire or rod may be employed inplace of the Bowden wire-48 and int-his case the tumbler lever 52 andspring 54 may be entirely dispensed l with as it will be appreciatedthat in this case the member 44 may be positively rotated-in bothdirections by the wire or rod. Moreover instead of employing the rods 55and 56 and theirassociated springs 59 and 60 'p'osi tioned as showninFigures 5 to 7 a single similarly mounted rod and spring may beemployed positioned in the central vertical plane through the reflector.

- In some cases-the dipping and. turning movements msteadofbelng-eflecte'd 's1mul-:

taneou-sly as heretofore-described may be effooted in succession, andintheform of the invention shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10 of the drawings Ihave shown an arrangement enabling the movable portion of the reflectorto be moved first to deflect the beam down-i wardly and to be movedsubsequently .to deflect the beam sideways.

As shown in FiguresS to 10 thereflector comprises an annular-portion 61and a-concave orother similarly shaped "portion 62 the latter beingmounted-upon theflange .63 attached to or formed integrally with theportion 61 throughthe medium of a ball or like bearing 64 permittinguniversal movement of the portion 62. A saddlemember 65 is mounted uponthe flange 63 and is pivoted horizontally thereon. as shown moreespecially in Figures 8 and 10. The member 65 carriesat points on eitherside ofthe central vertical plane of the lamp pins 66'which when theportion 62 is in the position shown in the drawings contact with therearwardly extending flange 67011 the portion 62 of the reflector andthe portion v62 of the reflector is maintained in the position shown bya spring device preferably arranged in the central vertical plane of thelamp as shown and which includes a rod 68 pivoted at its lower end at 69to the portion 6201 the reflector as shown and projecting at its upperend through a slot or hole in 'aprojection 70 from 1130} the support 71;The member 75 is provided with spaced legs 77 which are adaptedtocontact with a pin 78 attached to the portion 62 I of the reflectorwhen the member 75 is rotated upon its pivot.

Assuming the various'parts of the reflector to be in the position shownin the drawings it will beseen that by. rotating the member 201 7 5 inaclockwise directionthe roller 73 will rideupon the cam surface 74.torockthe saddle member 65 forwardly about its pivots thereby alsorocking'the portion 62 of the reflector forwardly about the pivotalbear- 257 ing 64 owing to the engagement between the pins66 and theflange 67. The beam of light emanating from the reflector is accordinglydipped.' Continued clockwise rotation of the member 75 will bring theright hand leg 77 of that memberintoengagement with the pin 78 therebycausingthe portion 62 of the reflector to be rotated about an axispassing through bearing 64 and the-righthand footstep bearing for suchprojector, further pin 66 so that any beam of light therefrom is-deflected to theright as viewed in Figure 8, and is also deflecteddownwardly to a greater.

degree.

Anti-clockwise rotation of the member 75 from this position willcausethe port-1on62 4093 of the reflector to be'returned to the position.shown under the influence ofthe spring de-I vice: previously describedand further anticlockwise rotation-of-the member 75 willcausetherefiector 'to be first dipped and then 5 turned in a's'imilarmanner to'that'described but to'the other side. Clockwise rotation ofthe member 75 from this position will enable the portion 62 of thereflector to'be returned to the position shown.

503 It will be appreciated that the shape of the cam surface 74 on onesidemay be different from that on the other side and that the legs 7 7may be spaced as desired to enable different degrees of dipping andturning to be oh- I tained as desired.

' As shown the member 75 is adapted for positive rotation in bothdirections by means of a more or less rigid wire or rod 79 which may ifdesired be guided in "a flexible tube 6 80 consisting for instanceofhelically coiled wire.

By constructingalamp the manner de scribed it is possible for the beamof light emanating therefrom to be moved and held Jim anyedesiredposition intermediate its ex piano wire, is connected to the'rack 84and.

passes through a brass or the like non-flexible wire casing 87 to aflexible extension 88, and thence to afurther non-flexible tube 89. Po-

- sitive movementof the wire 86 inboth directions, with holding of therack 84 in any" position, is thus attained, springs being dispensedwith.

Iclaimz- 1. In a head lamp, a light projector, a footstep' bearing forsuch projector, further slot bearings thereforsituate at each side ofthe vertical plane of the footstep bearing, -a pin on the projector, amember engaging such pin, means for operating such member to impart byits engagement with the pin angular movement'to the projector, and meansfor constraining the said projector to move bodily in one or the otherof the bearing slots inv accordance with the direction of angularmovement imparted. y f V 2. In a head lamp,,a light projector, a

slot bearings therefor situate .at each side of the vertical plane ofthe footstep bearing, a pin on the projector, a positively operablemember embracing such pin, a spring-biased tumbler lever pivotedadjacent to the projector, and a further pinion the operable memberengaged by the tumbler lever, the tumbler lever and pin engagementcausing bodily movementof the projector in one orthe other ofits slotbearings inacco'rdance with the direction of movement of the Op6I'-..able member, and thus of the tumbler lever.'

8. In a head lamp a light projector, a footstep bearing for'suchprojector, further- 5 slot bearings therefor situate at each sideof V the, vertical planeof the footstep bearing, a pin on the projector,a member pivoted upon, the projector and embracing such pin, a push andpull wire connected to such member to rock it aboutits pivot, and thusim-. part to the projector angular movement upon its footstep bearing,and means for constraining the said projector to move bodily in oneorthe other of the bearing slots in accord ance with the direction ofangular movement imparted.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 1 my hand.

WILLIAM BIRTWISLE.

